Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

We have just completed the first four days of Term 4 and they were quite brilliant.  The headline event of course was our Sports Fun Days but the back up support were just as impressive.  The Student Council made the donation to the Children's Hospital Foundation and Prep M added their kindness pavers to the school walkway.  

Facilities additions

I am delighted to let families know that our classroom air-conditioning program is all but finished and we are just waiting for a few finishing touches and parts before the contractors can move on to their next jobs.  This summer is looking a lot more comfortable!  

Our school rule signs are in place, painting on the concrete in the junior playground area has been completed and the school Yarning Circle has been started.  I anticipate that this space will be opened during this term once some murals and screens have been completed and constructed.  There have also been a number of new garden areas as well and we will be adding some colour across the school. 

The biggest of our facilities plans - to open 2021 - will be the addition of the Loose Parts Play spaces around the school.  We have been investigating this research for the past six months and are excited to incorporate it into our students character development.  These spaces will begin construction across this term and are aimed at allowing children to play co-operatively without the structure usually associated with regular playground areas.  These will be an absolute highlight and simply cannot wait to see the children accessing these spaces.  And we will be asking for families to contribute to the play resources as well

Year Book

The 2020 Year Book is nearing publication and it will be one to collect as this has been a year of difference.  We will be including photos that families sent in during 'Home Learning' so that we accurately capture the year that was.  If you submitted photos but do not wish them to be included, please email Mrs Jenkins before Friday 16 October.  

Important dates

We will keep adding to this list of events as we finalise our plans the conclusion of the 2020 school year.   Please check each week and add the information to your fridge calendars.  

Kind regards

Vic

Congratualtions to the following students on an oustanding achievement in just their first week back.

Prep to Year 2

Year 3 to Year 6

The arrival of coronavirus earlier this year has meant that all activities would be different.  And while the events were very successful, it has resulted in families missing out on valuable opportunities to share with their children.  I truly hope that this changes as I greatly miss the family interaction at school.

Sports Fun Days are aimed at promoting healthy competition and sportsmanship for every student in the school in the sport of track and field.  We value students participating and contributing to and as a team.  Our school sport motto is Fun - Fitness - Friendship and from the smiles on faces and the spirit shown across the three days, we have certainly achieved that.

Thank you to the staff for their support in creating a successful carnival.  Thank you also to the staff from Queensland Cricket who added their flavour to the carnival.  We always enjoy their visits.  And of course, a special congratulations to Mrs Finger, Mr Burrows and Mr Raffin - our super PE Team - for getting our term off to a magnificent start.  Special mention also to Mrs Gatti for her sunsmart attire.

Results

Galleries

Day 1 (Prep and Year 1)

Day 2 (Year 2 and Year 3)

Day 3 (Years 4 to 6)

2MC focus on shapes

2MC have been learning about 2D shapes this week.  Reuben was proud of his creation of Mr Graham wearing his best star shirt, Sonny created himself and Yasmin and Gemma drew the animals.

Week 1 learning was loads of fun     

Our Book Week Dress-Up Day is set to take place this coming Friday.  Book Week is traditionally a big event for Coomera Rivers, however like everything 2020, we've had to scale it down.  So while we won't be having the big assemblies, book fairs, author visits and presentations, we will be having our most favourite event - the dress-up!  Students are asked to either come as their favourite book character or dress up to the Book Week theme, Curious Creatures, Wild Minds. There is no cost for this dress-up day and there are some very cool prizes up for grabs.  Each class will determine a class winner and then a team of judges will decide on overall year level 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.  These students will be featured in a very special video that will be played to all classes and we're sure, posted on to class SeeSaw accounts.  So get creative and let your mind go wild creating some curious creatures!  We can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Last term the student council organised our free dress 'Twinning Day' to help raise money for our 2020 chosen charity, The Children's Hospital Foundation.  This week they had the privilege of meeting Carley Rowan, a volunteer cuddle carer at the Hospital Foundation, to present her with a $1000 cheque and to learn about how this money might be used at the foundation.  Students asked many questions ranging from what is the role of a cuddle carer, how old do you need to be to volunteer and what other jobs can volunteers sign up to do.  They learned that the Children's Hospital Foundation recently purchased on piece of medical equipment that cost just over $1.2 million dollars.  So while $1000 in comparison doesn't appear much, Carley reassured our students their contribution meant a lot.  Donations also go towards purchasing toys, games and research.  It was wonderful to see our students really interested in Carley's work at the foundation and it was great to see that as a community, we've contributed to a valuable cause.

Cinderella Rockerfella is premiering shortly

• Thursday 22 October
• Friday 23 October

Our cast had their first dress rehearsal at the end of last term and... IT WAS AMAZING! We also added in our backstage crew who in previous weeks have been busy painting and creating our props and backdrops. At the end of our rehearsal we added in the dancers with their new number.

We can't wait to take to the stage for real after the holidays on Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd October. We will perform three shows during school time for years 4,5 and 6 (with one adult per performer in attendance) and will then have a company in to professionally record our show on Friday night to share with everyone.

Musical families, please keep an eye on your inbox as we will send you some information about adding in a 2:30-4:00pm rehearsals on Tuesday afternoons up until the show.

Flash Mob

Our annual Flash Mob plans had to change a little due to this year's restrictions but the students enjoyed getting out and dancing in year levels in Week 10 of Term 3. If you have not seen it yet, Mrs Blyth has created a video with a snap shot of each year level showing their stuff.  Click here to go to seesaw.

Please keep an eye out for photos of these events on Facebook and in the school newsletter and website.

Vacation care success

What an incredible vacation care we had! Finally, we were able to go out and explore and support local businesses. Our excursions included Bounce, Putt Putt Golf and watching Trolls 2 at the cinema! We welcomed with open arms some scaly creatures thanks to the Reptile Rangers and we ran around the oval with laser guns and giant inflatables. Our in-club days that our wonderful Educators programmed were so much fun! Everyday there was something for everyone to enjoy. Spring Vacation Care was by far the best vacation care this year! It was so amazing being able to venture outside of the school grounds after our last two vacation cares limited us. Christmas holidays will only be bigger and better! If our families have any suggestions for our next vacation care, please flick us an email, message, or let us know next time you’re at the service.